On September 11th, 2001, the face of America changed. Since then, Americans have lived with a new, perceived reality. Never before had the United States' citizens recognized the reality that we could be attacked on our own soil from those existing outside our soil.
To this day, much of American life is concerned with, and controlled by this new reality. To a very large extent, we have accepted a perceived reality which is not, in fact real. Vast sums of money, expertise, and experience have been expended on this perceived reality to “make us safe”.
We were told that it was terrorists who did this for (to) us. Terrorism had struck our shores. We have been stricken by it ever since. What an entire national history, and more wars than most of us would care to count could not do; what political battles had never accomplished, 22 people-21 foreigners and one President of the United States did within 24 hours.
Now, please don't go running off, yet. Follow me just below the squggledoodlethingey fold, and I'll explain.
Remember that President Bush told us that what occurred on that fateful day was the result of "evil-doers", and that we must (and he then thereby did) declare war on "Terror". In very real terms, from that pronouncement forward, we have lived, as citizens, in fear. Anger, outrage, PTSD, depression, hopelessness--all these realities and more have become part of the American fabric. It is not outside the realm of legitimate reason to recognize that we now have an entire generation being raised up among, and by us, that has never known what it is like to live in a nation without fear. Many of our citizens will be voting in the national election for the first time in their lives with this reality foremost in their minds.
For more than eleven years, we have been encouraged, pushed and prodded into a perceived reality that does not exist. Why do I say this?
What four airplanes and 21 dedicated extremists could not do, one President did. Now, please understand, President Bush did not make us afraid. He, and especially Vice President Cheney (for our collective memory's sake), simply told us, time after time, that we should be. It worked. And, for more than eleven years now, it has been working. And growing. And spreading amongst us as what could well be a terminal virus.
This is the REAL definition of terrorism. It has worked to our detriment since the first words of a President who completely understood the value of a fearful and frightened populace to their (the President's) agendae and other ends, national and political. First, it spread to us. Then, it spread amongst us. Now, it threatens to destroy us as this unnecessary fear holds within it's power the ability to cause us, as a nation of citizens, to implode upon itself.
It must be noted that fear is a major component of Republican and Tea Party politics, both from and espectially to the constituency. Many have commented on the reality of fear within the party, the political machine, and the constituency. In fact, many politicos clearly demarcate the degree of "redness" based upon the level of fear which motivates, or speaks to that constituency.
This is not to say that fear has absolutely no useful purpose. It can also have a realistic national purpose.
Just not here. The success of the attack on the United States is not the sadness of New York. That particular success could not possibly have been accomplished by those who flew airplanes into buildings, or even into the ground. Our national promise has been that we would never forget.
But I find it terribly difficult to believe that those heroes who gave their lives would want their deaths, their sacrifice to be the genesis of national fear, ethnic phobias, or political usury. That's not what they gave us. And that is most certainly NOT what our promise means, or at least not what it should mean.
That's what one President, one Vice President, and a national system--all of which critically needed to inculcate fear and paranoia into the people's reality for the furtherance of their own, completely unrelated agendae, has done to us. We, as citizens have been lesser for it ever since.
The truth which remains before us is that we can, as a nation, call "Shens" at any point in our national existence. I believe we should. Now.
Our President has, in a very real way, been calling us to do precisely this, yet we cannot yield our obsessions with fear to a very different reality that lies before us. We have strengthened our security at home. We should do more. But we should do nothing from a starting point of fear.
We are, in fact, in a depression. Ours is not only an economic and financial depression, but in a new, never before-known sense, a collective national mental depression. Think about it. Many tell us we have to fight "them", over there, or face fighting "them" over here. Ergo, the military must be sustained, and enlarged. Meanwhile, we do not have the economic ability or the national will to serve those returning troops who have, without question, served us. Fear is the reason for both truths.
As the economic disparity widens in America, we purposely choose, as citizens, to do nothing to address, or repair it. If we do, we will disintegrate financially. We do not, because we have become, I submit both irrationally, and with malice aforethought by others, fearful of the outcome.
In like manner, we accept, as "collateral damage" a reality that some 70% of our fellow citizens must live hand-to-mouth each and every day because we are fearful of the outcome should these citizens somehow become empowered, enabled, or emboldened. I mean, my God, what would America look like if THAT were the case?
Like we once did. That's how we would look. Well, we certainly cannot have that, now can we? Fear must control, after all.
If you take a couple of moments, and consider some of the seeming irrationalities being posed in this election, and ask yourself just one important question, you too will, I believe, come to a more realistic understanding of the thesis I am presenting.
"Why? Where is that coming from?"
Fear.
We truly fear our own government today. The pilots win, again. We more than fear. We mistrust the persons, the programs, the institution of government itself. Now, the fear which came from that same government, on purpose, is now returning to roost where it began. This is not only foreseeable. It has always been predictable. Timing is the key, you see. So long as the progenitors of this fear get what they want, for so long as they can possibly get it, the mechanism works. What remains afterward is of no concern to them, because they have in the intervening span of time secured for themselves that which is sufficient to insulate themselves from the resulting decimations which they themselves helped to create. Think about that for a moment. Look around our national political reality.
Look around this very community, today. Fear, version 2.0.
I have written what came before, so that we might look at the current happenings within this very community today from a different perspective; if you will, through a different lens. Fear has broken out among us, and there is no reasonably informed Kossack who is not aware of it. I'd like to say just a little bit about that. Heck, it's my diary. I don't need permission, after all.
Friends and fellow Kossacks have been, for the past while, engaged in a life where fear is a stark reality. Some would say that we do not know from whence this fear began. Others would say that we DO know where this fear was born. We will, in all likelihood, never know what is going on behind the scenes in our federal government to protect our homeland. I would submit that we should not know. What we should know, however, is that our national government is on the job, and will do all that is humanly and technologically possible to insure our peaceful existence. Why is that, for so many, so difficult a reality to accept? We do, after all, have a 236 year history to depend on. So, what's the problem?
Fear.
In like manner, we as a community really have no idea what protections for this community are in place. Nor do we have so much as an inkling as to the technologies either in place now, or in the future, which will make this community as safe as is humanly possible for it's members. But, we DO have a history upon which we can depend. So...what's the problem?
Fear.
Yes, we have reports of real life incidents which make us believe we should fear, or that we could fear, or that we might need to fear either now, or some point in the future. Yet, we have no idea of anything except the possibilities which loom very large before us. As a President and a Vice President once told us, we "should" fear. Yet, our shock at the revelation flies in the face of all the history we can, or could, or should depend on.
"It's no use contacting the FBI, or Homeland Security, or the local police agencies. They won't respond." I've read the same about our site's admin teams, and even the site owner. Really? Tell me. Where in our history have we determined THIS to be true? I mean, think about it.
I've not, as I readily admit, been here a very long time. But, have I ever heard stories! From you! I cannot accept that the admin teams here simply would disregard ANY legitimate concern, report, or fear from any member of this community...ever. According to the stories you yourselves have told me, MeteorBlades stands approximately twelve feet tall, chews wire nails for snacks, and will decimate anyone who dares even think about, much less attempt to compromise this community--or any member of it. I use MB as an example, because it comes first to my mind. I'm actually not certain I'd ever like to even meet this person! But, I absolutely KNOW I'd never like for him to be against me. There is a long list I will not insert here. You know it as well, if not more so than I.
Likewise with the site owner himself. We call him Kos, yet we forget HIS history, as well. That is, I would dare say, a very dangerous proposition, not to mention the greatest possible disservice to the owner of this house. Not every decision ever announced by the admins, or by Kos himself has met with unanimous approval here. Many feelings have been scorched, both ways. But, it is left to those with the responsibility for making them that we must finally depend. So long as the history supports a reality that, in the long run, and across the largest possible picture, those decisions have helped this community to exist, grow and thrive, then we need not fear them, or those who make them. Fair enough?
As we will never know all we might prefer to know, I have no problem believing that we, as a community will always know what we need to know to be as safe, and secure as is humanly and technologically possible, every single day. Is that a guarantee? Absolutely not. Is it possible to have all these tools at hand, and still fail? Of course it is. Can these realities solve all the problems of the world in which we live? Of course not! That has, not in the entire history of The Daily Kos--not in the entire 236 year history of the United State, been true.
But, it has been true enough. It still is today, as well.
First, there are things which we, the members of this community can and must do to protect ourselves, and each other. If you do not know what those things are, or how to do them, ask. There are many in our community who will explain and, if necessary, assist you in the doing of those things. It requires something of you, however.
Secondly, we must communicate each and every possible threat to us as community members, real life persons, and as citizens to those who hold the responsibility and privilege for caring for us all. We must tell them what time it is. It is neither our place, nor our right, to demand of them that they build their clock as we prefer it. It does require something of you, however.
Thirdly, as a nation, and as a politically motivated Progressive community, the most powerful of all possibilities lies directly before us, within our immediate grasp. As a nation, and as the citizens of that nation, this used to be the most normal thing in all the world to do. Somehow, we lost sight of it. As citizens of America, and the world, and especially of this community, we must find it, and hold onto it as the most important thing in all the world. It is. It does require something of you, however.
A President in a by-gone era, who had a nation full of fearful people for more than very good reasons, told us of this requirement.
"The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself."
We must let go of the death-grip we have on fear. We must remember who, and what we are, and demand of ourselves, demand of each other, and demand of our nation that we be THAT again. We must make our decisions, our choices, and our government reflect that reality. For, you see, that really IS the truth. And, fear has absolutely nothing to do with it. It has no part in it. It is time for our national fear to simply dissolve. It was never real in the first place.
What we do not see is, and must not be our primary concern. Trusting the history behind, and around us, we can, if we choose, to remember and move forward to the solutions demanded of us as community, and as citizens of this nation, and as citizens of this world. Time has been squandered by nothing more than completely irrational and unnecessary fear.
It is not nearly so much that someone (although there are some stark realities on that particular front which we will soon discover) is a stalker, or that some nefarious agenda is stalking us.
It is fear that is the stalker that is stalking us. Fear only exists with our permission. It is time to give fear the boot. One of the most amazing things I ever learned in my life, and am learning still today, is that we have a choice. One choice, and the one I most urgently and strongly suggest to every reader of these words, is to simply stop, turn, and face fear.
In my life, when I do that, a most amazing thing happens 99.99% (an acceptable percentage for me) of the time. Fear evaporates before my eyes. It holds no power, save that which I give to it.
Life does give us reason for fear. Fear is a completely rational component of life itself. It is a miracle-working savior of folk. That is true, however, only when reality is in the mix. When it isn't, fear is a slave master, and we are its willing subjects. That must be true, for it is we who give fear power.
I would also tell you something about the personality of fear. Fear does have a discernible personality which, once you know it, is quite unmistakable. But, one of the most discernible traits of fear is that it does love the sound of its own voice. That is to say, fear loves to brag. I would submit to you that, as many of you have rightly stated, those who would make us fearful have read, are reading, or will read the comments left in a few diaries of late. But, I would dare go at least one step farther, and this is something I most fervently hope our admin teams will know, as well. (I believe they do, and I will simply leave it at that.)
Those who would have us know fear have written comments in those diaries, as well. Many have responded to, and even recommended their comments. Quite a twist of irony, wouldn't you say? Yet, if you know fear as I do, as Markos does, and as many of the admins here know fear, the face stands out in a crowd. The language may be perceptibly different, based upon the venue, but the underlying sentiments are precisely the same. Those who would have some be fearful cannot help but brag; that's what they do. It is as much within their nature as is the sting of the Scorpion. Their identities are clear within their comments. I have never been mistaken in any determination, when it comes to the voice of fear. It has, as many will quickly tell you, a very discernible ring, cadence, and tone. EVEN when it is busily decrying itself to it's intended victims. They unwillingly, because they simply cannot help themselves, prove who they are, even when it is specifically against their own self-interest to do so. Such is the case in these diaries as well. If you were to simply re-read the diaries and the comments from THIS lens of knowledge, I feel certain you will almost immediately understand these words. I encourage you to do so.
What we do not know about the human expenditures and technological improvisations which are, or will be, around and among us to provide the greatest possible security and safety has absolutely nothing to do with their effectiveness, or their impact on our community, our nation, or our daily living. Nor is it necessary for us to speculate, imagine, confer as to what may or may not be effective. The only thing THAT does is provide comfort to the enemy, while empowering them to defeat those defenses which are, or may soon be.
What we CAN do?
Trust. As a community, we do that rather well, when we set our minds to it. As a nation, we were known around the world for it. Over the course of either history you choose, it has served us well.
Tons better, in fact, than fear. I choose trust, if for no other reason than that is where honor lives.
I hope you will, too. There is no better time that right now.
PS: We will be having a Vigil tonight. I hope you will be a part of it. It is, in a very large way, a Vigil to help us turn from fear. I look forward to seeing you there.
4:00 PM PT: Given today's most recent events, the Vigil scheduled for this evening has been cancelled. The event will be held, but will be rescheduled for sometimes shortly into the future.